Parks on the Air Activation - St. Malo Provincial Park (CA-1076)
Last weekend, we managed to get a quick trip in to St. Malo Provincial Park south of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The weather was dry and not too hot.
Antenna Setup
This is now the second deployment of the homebrew End-Fed Half-Wave (EFHW) antenna. I extended the wire to around 20m to check performance on 40m. I scanned it with my RigExpert Stick Pro and got the results below. Not too bad, I would say. Again this week, because of the orientation of the campsite, the wire was strung from east to west, giving me more coverage to the south.
I had already cut up some 16 AWG speaker wire, so I had to splice a few pieces together to get a full 20m. I plan to make some adjustments so that the EFHW becomes a linked system. I’ll have a piece around 10m tuned for the 20m band and then a second piece with loops that can clip together using a carabiner. I’ll use Anderson Power Poles or spade connectors to link them for 40m operations. This setup will provide more flexibility for campsites with limited space.
Activation
On May 24, we successfully activated the park with a total of 15 contacts. Much like our first POTA activation, these contacts were made by hunting other parks rather than calling CQ. We made steady progress and then found an activator activating three parks with two operators. Lots of lines were added to the log there!
The following morning, May 25, I attempted another activation by calling CQ. Unfortunately, after about 10 minutes of calling without any responses, I decided to wrap it up. We had other commitments, so I reluctantly packed up and began the drive home. It was still early in the morning and still refining the deployment. I suspect that the efficiency of the antenna is not fantastic and there are still some things to tune.
Digital Modes
Finally got the cables we need for interfacing with the radio and the DigiRig Mobile. It took a lot of troubleshooting, but we got to the point where CAT control is working and we are able to receive audio and decode FT8. I’m not confident that we have the transmit working correctly. More work for next time, I guess!
Lessons Learned
In the evening, we moved the radio inside the trailer and switched from a 7.62-meter length of RG8X coax to a 20-meter length of RG58. This introduced a noticeable increase in noise and radio frequency interference. Inside the trailer, there are a wall warts and a budget power bar with built-in USB charging, which I believe contributed to the noise. To solve this, I ordered a longer length of RG8X to replace the the RG58 and also an RF choke at the radio, as the EFHW antenna relies on the coax shield for grounding. If this improves our issues, I might explore coaxial cables with built-in chokes from someone like ARB Industries.
Additionally, grounding appears to be a potential weak point in the setup. To improve this, I’m going to investigate a better grounding solution, including a ground stake and braided grounding cable. This should help with the interference and improve performance for the next time.